


Mum's the Word

by rubyisarbitrary



Category: The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy - Kellyn Roth
Genre: F/M, No Sex, Poor Claire, Sex Talk, TBH I'll probably never post anything really dirty, Well a little and vaguely, because after all mums the word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28355010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubyisarbitrary/pseuds/rubyisarbitrary
Summary: Claire and Nettie refuse to discuss their sex lives despite being very curious.This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for another black-hearted fiend whom I blame completely for this fiction, only created to answer a question posed.
Relationships: Nettie Atwater/Tom Jameson, Philip Knight/Claire Chattoway





	Mum's the Word

Claire perched on the edge of the stairsteps, prim and proper as always, while Nettie leaned back, occasionally straightening to call to her children.

"Will you have another?" Nettie nodded toward their little ones running all over the yard, playing war. "If you're able."

"I think four is enough, don't you? With Ned, that's five, and I have Alice, too. Even though I've only four at home now." She cocked her head. "But I won't be able to stop it should it happen. It's been a few years, though ..."

"Wouldn't your husband—?" But she didn't finish that sentence because perhaps Claire didn't know, and perhaps Philip didn't care, and some illusions were needed in the Knights' marriage if it was to remain healthy.

Claire said nothing, her eyes distant. "I'm thirty-seven, and I doubt I'll conceive again."

Perhaps. Perhaps not. "Have you been ... are things as normal?"

She didn't say anything for a long moment then she smiled, a slight lift at the corner of her mouth. "Yes. Well, we're not newliweds. Haven't been for a long thing."

"So it's been ..." Then she stopped again. This wasn't a subject she discussed with Claire. They'd briefly brushed over it a few times, when Claire had had concerns over Nettie's wedding night.

Nettie had brushed these off; she'd already discussed it with her fiancé at the time, and they'd made the decision to not worry about consummating the marriage until she was ready — for obvious reasons.

Claire didn't invite the conversation to continue at first, and they just watched the children in silence. Then she cleared her throat. "Philip and I are fine, if that's what you're worrying about. Plainly a little exhausted, but fine. Taking care of everything with Alice has been tiring, and now Ivy isn't here too, which is stressful. But ... well, now there could be a baby. But I don't hope for it so much anymore."

Curiouser and curiouser. "Would you wish to prevent it?"

"No. Just not encourage it." She turned to Nettie. "Wait. Do you and Jameson stop ... Do you try to prevent pregnancies?"

"Yes. I don't have an option anymore." She'd risked pregnancies too many times, and another one was not a valid option if she wanted to value the life she had. But that didn't — couldn't — mean they weren't intimate. She couldn't bear that and lie next to him every night. So instead, they found different ways.

A part of her felt Claire would misinterpret this, however, to mean what most women meant when they said they wouldn't be having more children. "Tom and I are fine, too," she murmured.

Claire's eyes cut to her, curiosity practically leaping from them, but she didn't say anything.

Bolstering her courage, she said, "Would you like to know? How we manage?"

"I don't think so." Claire shrugged. "I'm fine with the way I'm managing. And I don't not want children, exactly. And I'm nearing thirty-nine."

Then Nettie wouldn't press. Claire deserved privacy, if that was what she needed. After having been forced to, in a way, share Philip with another woman ... privacy must be precious. Being able to be discreet must be precious.

Nettie understood that. Understood having something stolen from you, having privacy invaded. She understood how appealing and frightening closeness could be afterwards ... more so for her, but Claire must have had a battle to face, too, in a smaller way. Even Nettie couldn't say, though, that their sufferings on that particular arena were equal.

Now, nothing was more dear to her than Jameson — and nothing more special than the connection she shared with him.

However, as time passed and it no longer felt like a covert operation, she felt she would be able to share about such things with others as needed, in small pieces. To a daughter or a friend seeking advice, the idea wasn't as repugnant — as long as certain boundaries remained in place.

She never wanted to make her marriage bed any less sacred — she would never expose Tom or herself by sharing intimate details. But general knowledge must be passed on — some of it could not be discovered by happenstance, and it wasn't fair to ask newliweds to stumble about in the dark — quite literally — in order to find what worked.

But still, she respected Claire's desire not to hear about Nettie's relationship. If Claire could afford to have children, and if she was satisfied with her husband as was, why change things? And Claire was such a creature of habit.

Like Alice.

The thought made her laugh aloud.

"What is it?" 

"Oh, nothing. You and Alice are alike — it struck me as funny."

Claire blinked. "You don't mean we're alike when it comes to—" She choked. "Has she discussed her ...?"

"What? No. Of course not. She wouldn't — was upset with me for suggesting she might benefit from my wisdom. I think she took it as a personal insult that I would suggest she might want to talk through her wedding night." Nettie shook her head. "I'm ever so glad she married Peter, or she'd have set herself up for a lifetime of misery. But I believe he'll be thoughtful — has been thoughtful."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Men never think. Not about that. But I'm sure, if any man were to try to think, the one who might come closest would be Peter Strauss. But I'd rather not talk about Alice's ... about her life."

Nettie nodded companionably and simply ended the conversation with, "I'm sure she's fine."

Claire gathered her brood and left a bit later, and Nettie managed to get Malcolm, Ella, and Debby in her tea. Tom came in then, and kissed her, and started telling the girls about a litter of puppies up at the stables who they'd have to meet tomorrow.

But the kiss made her think, and then laugh, and shake her head.

Tom glanced over his shoulder, grinned. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking how absurd it is ... I felt a need to reassure Claire we were all right? Anyone with eyes ..." She trailed off, clicking to herself as she considered the absurdity.

"Claire knows my wages and has taken rent or mortgage away from us." He gestured around them. "What more could you possibly reassure her of? Of course we're all right!"

She laughed again, because of course her straightforward husband would think of money and work, and shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Mum's the word, you know."

Of course, Malcolm and Ella wanted to know all about this, but she silenced them with freshly baked tarts and a reminder of the puppies — something she could withhold, mind.

Tom whispered his fingers over her knee under the table, and she slapped his hand away, and he laughed and again, nothing could be explained. But for Nettie, at least, there were no doubts.


End file.
